Underlayment Tile and Method of Laying a Modular Surface Covering System

A parallelogram-shaped underlayment element for a modular surface covering system, the underlayment element comprises:

• an essentially planar base with a support surface at its top side configured to support a parallelogram-shaped finishing layer element, the support surface having a perimeter corresponding to an parallelogram-shaped finishing layer element;
• a raised edge along two interconnected sides of the support surface, the raised edge having a width defining a distance between parallelogram-shaped finishing elements when placed next to each other;
• and,
• a coupling structure at a bottom side of the underlayment element for releasably coupling parallelogram-shaped underlayment elements, the coupling structure comprising first coupling elements located along the two interconnected sides with the raised edge and second coupling elements located along the other two interconnected sides of the support surface, first coupling elements are connectable to second coupling elements of an adjacent underlayment element, the first coupling elements being located inside the perimeter defined by the support surface of the planar base, and the second coupling elements being located outside the perimeter defined by the support surface, wherein the first coupling elements are recesses and the second coupling elements are protruding tongues wherein the protruding tongues along a side of the underlayment tile have an outer circumference which corresponds with an inner circumference of the recesses along the opposite side of the underlayment tile, wherein a recess/protruding tongue can be coupled to a protruding tongue/recess of another underlayment element by a movement perpendicular to the planar base,
• wherein each side of the underlayment element is composed of a plurality of adjacent uniform edge sections corresponding to the number of recesses or protruding tongues along said side.